Amateur Megalomania

Ali, formally of Iraq the Model now has his own site called Free Iraq. Today, he put up an interesting post on the compatibility of religion and democracy. I found more at Media Lies on the subject.

First, Ali’s position can best be summarized here.

What I’m trying to say is that no religion in its present form is compatible with democracy and both democracy and religion can only co-exist if that religion is marginalized. In my mind all present religions, if you take them from the mouths of their advocators, being Imams, priests or whatever they are called in other religions and look at them with a modern rational mind, are (pardon me) so full of sh*t! (Note that I’m not talking about the core of those beliefs but how they’re presented to us now).

I’ve been a vocal critic of the Islamic world and the seeming inability of that faith to reconcile itself with the larger ideas of religious tolerance and personal freedom. I think the criticism is still well founded, but it is fair to extend the criticism to western religion. Since 9/11, I’ve been telling anyone who would listen that western faith had similar problems in the Middle Ages, and the first step toward resolution was the Treaty of Westphalia. While it didn’t solve all of the problems of religious intolerance, it was a significant step toward doing exactly what Ali is talking about here.

Namely, marginalization of religion is essential for a sustained peace and cohesion in a diverse population. This isn’t intended to diminish the role of faith in a culture, and indeed a homogenized faith is essential to bind people together in a common culture initially. But at some point, either through assimilation or contact with a larger world, enough Others will be encountered to cause problems. In the Middle Ages, this led to war and persecution.

Religion is a powerful meme, and by nature, memes demand obedience to the idea. Religions are designed to either convert or supplant, and they do it remarkably well. Fortunately for Western Civilization, the meme was marginalized enough to allow another meme to move in, namely, the ideas of personal liberty and tolerance of the Other. Without that essential change, Europe would pretty much look like the Middle East today.

So I agree with Ali. Religion, ascended to primacy, is not only incompatible with ‘democracy’ (a term I dislike), it is incompatible with essential freedoms that form the backbone of Western Civilization. Now, that isn’t to say that religion has no place in society. Far from it. Media Lies sums it up nicely –

That is not to say that the precepts of a religion cannot influence the formation of laws in a democracy. They most certainly can and do. And they can be adjusted over time by the influence of other religions. However, the laws cannot be identical to the precepts of any religion where those precepts are inimical to the rights of those who are not followers of that religion.

The Judeo-Christian ethic is an essential core of Western Law, and to pretend otherwise is silly. But that core doesn’t make us a theocracy. Westerners consider secular law as the primary authority, while acknowledging the roots of this law but not demanding the continued presence of religion in the practice of government. Unfortunately, it seems Islam, as practiced today, demands a primary role in both the interpretation and administration of law and government.

Freedom and compatibility with the modern world will only come to the Middle East when they have their Westphalia moment. Such reform isn’t going to be driven by the United States. It’s going to come from a small group of religious figures, hopefully alive today, who will stand up and offer a new interpretation of Islam. I am optimistic about this in the long run.

Filed under: Religion